There’s just over a week to go now … advance polls opened yesterday and people flocked to cast their vote.

The major debate of the campaign in Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry was Thursday night, when candidates discussed all the major issues plus a few more. It was rather interesting to hear Libertarian Neal Donnelly’s perspective, but I don’t really feel he added much to the conversation. Mario Leclerc of the NDP has impressed me less with each meeting, as most of his statements come straight from written notes and a couple of times I thought he was reading from the wrong place because his comments didn’t really fit the topic.

And yet, his party is surging ahead. When I saw the first poll with the two parties in a near tie, I figured it was just a fluke, a bump from the leaders’ debate or something. But it’s been a few days and still Jack Layton is looking like a serious contender for second place. The Conservatives still have a healthy lead, with some polls showing they are in majority territory.

Then again, maybe we’ll end up with the same scenario as last time around.